1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive, and more particularly, to a bracket for a disk drive which can protect a disk drive from impact by its buffering ability and prevent mutual interference between circuits positioned below the bracket.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Hard Disk Drive (hereinafter, HDD) mounted on a bracket generally includes a spindle motor to rotate a disk and an actuator having a head for recording data to the disk and reading the data recorded on the disk. An internal vibration occurs due to the spindle motor or the actuator embedded in the HDD. A vibration blocking mount is used for solving this problem, thereby minimizing the rotation vibration factor caused by inner spindle force, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,196. However, vibration introduced from an external source may be not prevented. A matter of greater concern than internal vibration is a vibration caused by an external impact. As HDDs become miniaturized and lightened and attached to a portable device, vibration caused by an external impact becomes a more serious matter.
An external impact causes damage to a HDD, such as the dislocation of the rotation center of a disk, damage to a magnetic disk, interference to the normal operation of a spindle motor, interference in reading recorded information and magnetic or physical destruction of the recorded information. Currently, an ultra slim HDD is determined to be the optimal storage medium since it is cheaper than a general flash memory device with comparable capacity and the power consumption is less than 1 W which makes it possible to be installed in a portable device. Accordingly, an ultra slim HDD was developed where the thickness was reduced to less than 1 inch, such that the ultra slim HDD was installed in a portable device. A product whose thickness is 1 inch is being used in an MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer-3) player or PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), and a product whose thickness is less than 1 inch may be applicable to not only a cellular phone, but also a wireless AP (Access Point), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a navigational system. Thus, the ultra slim HDD is expected to extend its share of the market.
As described above, the application range of an ultra slim HDD is becoming extensive, but research on a method of protecting the HDD from vibration occurring due to an external impact is unsatisfactory.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a buffer member attached on a conventional HDD. This invention is disclosed in U.S. Patent Appl. Pub. No. 2003/35281A1. As illustrated in the figure, the invention discloses that an HDD 2 is mounted on a bracket 12 and a plurality of buffer members 131, 132, 133, and 134 are provided below the bracket 12, which makes it possible to absorb impact. In FIG. 1, drawing symbol 3 is a buffer module, 311 is an upper case, and 312 is a lower case, which are not described herein.
However, in the case of separately providing buffer members, the installation space of an ultra slim HDD installed in a portable device is insufficient. Also, the entire size of a module becomes larger due to the size of the buffer members. Also, in the case of using a member whose maximum compressed ratio is about 30%, such as rubber, as a buffer member, its buffering ability may be less than 50%. Also, in the case the displacement of an HDD caused by an external impact is large, a second impact may occur.
Also, in the case of an HDD installed in a portable device, an external impact acceleration is generally more than 5000G. In the case of an HDD installed in a portable device, vibration and impacts occur more frequently and with greater intensity than when installed in a personal computer. With a portable device, there is the problem of not installing an effective amount of buffer members or the vibration blocking mount can not be properly installed due to the limitation for the size and weight of the HDD.
Also, there is needed a buffer which is applicable to not only the HDD but also a disk drive including a motor such as an optical disk drive, and capable of effectively buffering an external impact and an internal vibration.